Skiing at Zauchensee

One of the greatest winter joys of living in Salzburg, in the heart of the Austrian Alps, is that I can make my way to any one of the hundreds of ski resorts either by car or by train for a day out on the slopes - and still make it home in time for dinner.

I learned to ski in 2015, at the age of nineteen, and felt hugely behind in picking up this skill set, especially living in Canada where it seems like kids are born and raised on skis! I spent the next three years after that honing my skills but then, long-term traveling and ultimately moving to Europe, meant leaving my skis, along with everything else I owned, behind. Firstly in a storage unit in Canada and later with my parents in California, my boxes waited patiently for me to one day (three years later!) to come and claim them again. When the US border finally reopened at the end of 2021 after nearly two years of COVID-related closures, I was finally able to make the trip back to California for the holidays. It was an ideal opportunity to go through all my stuff and decide what to bring back to Austria, including my boots and skis!

And so, to kick off my third year of skiing in Europe, a group of seven of us, including my best friend, her boyfriend and my boyfriend, took advantage of the best ski conditions we've ever had and drove out to Zauchensee. We had perfect sunny blue skies the day after a fresh snow fall which meant soft powder and absolutely stunning views. We stopped for lunch in one of the many huts and enjoyed proper Austrian hut food to fuel our long day out.